


Meet in the sky and i'll sing you a lullaby

by AgenderAnarky



Category: DCU (Comics), Kid Eternity (Comics)
Genre: Agender Character, Bittersweet, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Its rough but it ends on good terms folks, Long Lost/Secret Relatives, ME? Self projecting? More likely then you think!, Major Illness, Not Canon Compliant, Reunited and It Feels So Good, Terminal Illnesses, Unofficial sequel to the vertigo kid eternity comic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-06-18
Packaged: 2020-05-14 09:31:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19270510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgenderAnarky/pseuds/AgenderAnarky
Summary: Kid Eternity finally gets to meet their mother, Hope, after all these years.





	Meet in the sky and i'll sing you a lullaby

**Author's Note:**

> HEY HEY HEY IM BACK 
> 
> THIS TIME WITH ANOTHER SAD FIC!!! WOOOOO 
> 
> FEATURING OBSCURE CHARACTER OF THE DAY, VERTIGOS KID ETERNITY!! WOOO 
> 
> HAVE FUN READING YALL ITS A DOOZY

The hospital is daunting when Kid approaches.

Its large, and grey, and sterile, smelling like bleach and anti bacterial wipes as people rush in and out of glass doors.

Kid almost doesn’t even wanna go inside. But they gotta.

Mrs Brighton gives them a worried look, button eyes gleaming, but Kid just smiles and holds her tighter, before stepping through the front door.

A receptionist clanks and clicks away at her keyboard, and Kid takes a sharp intake of breath, anxiety pooling in their gut that screams at them to run away as fast as they can and never come back-

They ignore it, and move closer, opening their mouth to ask,

“Excuse me, but is there a Mrs Hope Freeman rehabilitated here?”

The receptionist glances up from her screen, and squints at Kid. “Why yes, there is.”

“What.... room is she in?”

“Room 298, up on the second floor. Why?”

“No reason.” Kid briskly walked away, and powered their way towards the stairs, ignoring the receptionist as she shouted after them in a panic.

The walk to room 298 wasn’t long, and now Kid stood outside, the daunting feeling from outside returning as they stared at the old woman resting in one of the hospital beds, IV tubes and medications galore.

Kid hands shake, fist gently knocking on the door before clasping the handle and walking in. The old woman opens her eyes suddenly, and looks over at Kid.

“Hi.” Kid tries to smile, but its so nervous it looks more like a frightened grimace then anything, free hand waving slightly.

“Christopher?..” The woman asks, trying to process everything that’s happening.

“Ye-Yea.” They choke out, hugging the monochrome stuffed cat in their arm closer to their chest, getting slowly nearer and nearer to the woman's hospital bed. “Its me. Its Christopher. Chris-Christopher Freeman.”

“Hi, Mom.”

She blinked, rapidly even, before tears started pooling in her eyes, smile breaking out on her pale face. “Oh, Christopher, oh, baby, oh, sit down, please, sit.”

Kid pulled up a nearby chair, sitting down by the very edge of her bed, Mrs Brighton soft plush body left on their lap. Their mother's hand was nearby, and they wavered their own, unsure if they should hold it or not.

Hope Freeman made the decision for Kid, grasping onto their hand like her life depending on it, hold strong and loving.

She sobbed, trying to fruitlessly dab away her tears with a tissue. “Oh, Chrissy, oh my baby, i'm so sorry. I'm so, _so_ sorry i ever left you. I should have never abandoned you at that orphanage- most awful mistake i ever made in my entire life-“

“Hey, hey, it’s ok.” Kid interrupted softly, trying their best to ease her grief. “I'm here now. Its ok. The past is over, we've moved on, let’s just focus on the present- okay??”

Hope nodded, smile returning to her face. “Of course, of course. Look at me, bawling like a silly old woman, making it all about myself. How have you been, Christopher? Did the years treat you well? Oh, sincerely hope nothing bad has ever happened to you.”

Kid swallowed, the demon plaguing their mind wanting to lash out, to scream, to release all of the tension and trauma and pain they experienced through the past 80 years onto this frail, dying woman.

Instead, Kid shrugged nonchalantly. “I've been.... in some pretty rough spots. Really rough spots. Its cool, though, i'm in a way better position now. Honestly, i am. Promise.”

Hope frowned, as though seeing through the bullshit front Kid was putting up, but fortunately didn’t budge on the topic.

“How- How are you?” Kid stammered. “You doing okay?”

Hope sighed, the exhaustion in her eyes becoming more and more evident the longer they spoke. “Oh, i've been better myself, dear.”

Kid nodded, encouraging her to open up.

“The doctors, whatever they’re worth, say i have cancer of some kind. I've been doing the chemo and all those fancy expensive treatments for the past months, but really, I don’t know how long i have left.”

Hope went quiet for a moment, before perking up once more. “Enough about that, though, look at you! You’re all grown up and oh so handsome! You must be so popular with all the other youngsters.”

Kid blushed with a small smile, fiddling with a piece of stray hair. “I'm not that handsome..”

Hope laughed, bright and like a summer bird's song. “You’re in denial is what you are, my dear boy. But if it'll keep you from squirming, I won’t tease you about it any longer.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

Hope's eyes drifted, before she suddenly cooed, breaking her clutch on Kid's hand and reaching for Mrs Brighton. “Whose this little fella? They’re adorable!”

“That’s uh, Mrs Brighton. I got her from a toy factory when i was eight.”

Hope held Mrs Brighton in her hands for a good while, cooing and admiring the handiwork, before passing it back to Kid. “Oh, she's absolutely precious.”

“Yea... yea, she is.” Kid smiled, taking note of the pleased expression on Mrs Brighton stitched face.

Kid and Hope talked, for a very, _very_ long time, attempting to catch up on decades of lost conversations and missed interactions, in one, singe day.

It was now deep into night, messing with a stray thread on their jacket, biting the inside of their cheek as they mumbled. “Hey did you uh... know it was me, when i came in?”

“Hm?” Hope tilted her head, before responding. “Oh, i Don’t know, really. Just some innate motherly sense, i suppose.”

They nodded. “Ok. Ok. Groovy.”

She chuckled softly. “Never thought you to be the kinda person to say groovy in this day and age.”

“Well, there’s a lot of things you don’t know about me.”

The humour in Hope's face faded, and a more somber one made its journey up. “You’re right. I don’t know a lot of things about you, even after all that we've discussed.”

Kid's mind immediately went into a panic, internally hitting themselves on the head for upsetting their own mother, but the self loathing train stopped as soon as she sighed and said,

“Look. Chris. Christopher. I... don’t have much time left on this earth and i... want to be serious for a second.” Hope swallowed a lump in her throat, close to tears once more, then continued. “I know i already said it, but i'm sorry. I truly, deeply am, from the bottom of my heart, for not being there for you.”

“I've lived a long, long, life, Chris. I've seen a lot of things, some things no one should ever see.. I've known many people, i've done a great deal of activities and hobbies and god knows what.. But the only regret, i ever had, in all those years, was leaving you.”

Something wet and cold trailed down Kid's cheek, causing them to take off their sunglasses and wipe it away. They realised, then, it was tears.

Hope slowly and gently cupped Kid's jaw in her palm, giving them a heartfelt smile. “I love you, Christopher Freeman. I love you so much, and although i've only just properly met you, i want you to know, i'm proud of you. I was always proud of you. You’re going to do amazing things, Kiddo, i _know_ you are. You’re the son i always wanted to have.”

Kid opened their mouth to speak, then closed it, the tears running freely down their face. The room then, somehow became colder, as a familiar gothic apparition appeared.

Death of the endless, as easygoing and laid back as always, waved. “How’s it hanging, kid?”

Hope yawned, carefully shuffling out of bed “Oh, is it time already?”

“Yep. Got any unfinished plans left to do, any last words, before you take the plunge?”

“I-I-“ Kid hopped out of their own chair, Mrs Brighton falling to the floor in the rush, a hive of anxiety on two legs as they panicked on what to do.

Hope didn’t seem to be in any hurry, though. Eventually, Kid just acted on their gut, and hugged her, sobbing like an idiot. “I-I, I love you, Mom.”

“I know.” Despite the smile lines, the crows feet, the wrinkles and her greying hair, everything society deemed unattractive or unwanted, Kid thought she was the most beautiful woman alive. “Goodbye, Kid. Take care.”

Kid reluctantly released her, and watched silently as Death and Hope disappeared into the ether.

The only noise in the room was the monitor flatlining loudly. Picking up Mrs Brighton, putting their sunglasses back on, They left the room, and went to the nearest exit.

When Kid returned to their car, they saw Cristabel braiding her hair, Willie playing the harmonica. Willie stopped, though, when he noticed Kid, and jumped out to run over to them and hug them by the shoulders. “Good god, kid! Are you ok? How did it go?”

Kid hummed a broken tune, as they continued to the car. “It was good. Really good.”

Sliding into the drivers seat, they passed Mrs Brighton over to Cristabel, grinning at her. “Great Braid, Cris. Stylish.”

“What happened? What was your Mother like?” Willie also got back into the car, Cristabel beside him and watching Kid intensely.

“I'll talk about it later. I'm still.... kinda processing the whole thing, you know? But I’ll guarantee to tell you guys the story soon. No take backs.”

Kid then grinned wildly, gazing back at the three. “Now, anyone wanna travel to Los Angeles? I wanna try and annoy the devil. We can even get a slice of Mabel's pie along the way, or buy some new art supplies.”

The three people in the back agreed enthusiastically almost instantaneously, causing them to let out a cackle. “Groovy. Let’s hit it, folks!”

As they blasted out of Savage, and drove in the general direction of LA, Willie Dodge playing his harmonica energetically, Cristabel singing along with Mrs Brighton hanging off her neck, Kid Eternity finally felt truly happy.


End file.
